The fact is the Tar Heels have knocked out few teams this year when it had a large lead.

Playing sloppily is the worst habit this team has developed throughout this season.

"I don't think we lost our concentration in the last three minutes of the game," Kendall Marshall said. "We have finished teams in the last three minutes. Our losses this year haven't been decided in the last three minutes."

Unfortunately, Marshall misses the point on this one. It is not the losses that led to defeat against Duke. It was the lackadaisical, mindless play while leading teams that surfaced and cost them this time.

"I just thought we made some mistakes at the end," Williams said. "That is the bottom line. We turned it over and missed a few free throws. We had been closing games pretty well. But we didn't tonight. You just have to congratulate Duke and Mike and his staff."

The facts point otherwise. Carolina has consistently built big leads only to coast. UNC could have crushed Georgia Tech, but instead the Tar Heels coasted.

The Tar Heels led the Yellow Jackets 52-32 at the half. Yet Georgia Tech pulled to within 93-81, and it was not because Georgia Tech made some heroic run.

Carolina coasted.

That kind of behavior may have seemed like no big deal on that night, but Wednesday proves that failing to learn from such performances lead to costly habits, habits that can cost a team critical games later down the line.

Williams and his players can say all they want about not letting off the gas on a regular basis, but if those are not just words for public consumption, if those words are their true thoughts, this team is in trouble.

If UNC really believes that nonsense, the Tar Heels are destined to finish heartbroken in March.

Carolina fans are going to complain because the refs turned to Duke's in the second half, but great teams adjust and overcome.

UNC became sloppy.

Then on the last play, no one may ever know why Tyler Zeller stood inside the 3-point line and watched Rivers bury the winning shot. Had Zeller come to the line, Rivers would had to move for a better shot.

Instead he fired a rainbow that ended in gold for Duke and bankruptcy for Carolina.

"We know how we can play," John Henson said. "We just have to finish it, finish games off."

There is the truth and the bottom line. It is a truth the Tar Heels can dodge at their own peril.